


Singularity #6: "Unraveling"

by Marc_Quill



Series: Marc Quill's Singularity [7]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Conspiracy Thriller, M/M, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 17:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8218831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marc_Quill/pseuds/Marc_Quill
Summary: In Part VI of "Singularity", our heroes find themselves in dire straits. While Finn has been arrested by Toronto Police for allegedly killing Isaac Ellerton, Skye has been captured by SDI after having her mind completely wiped out by SDI CEO Gerald Selfridge during a confrontation in the Port Lands. Could this be truly the end for both Skye and Finn?





	1. Chapter 1

**_Previously on_ ** **Singularity…**

Skye, a young woman with fractured memories of her past and superhuman abilities, found herself on the streets of Toronto one January evening. For an unknown reason, Skye is being trailed by Agent Samuel Brandt, an ex-JTF-2 operative working under the employ of a man only known as “The Chief”, who wishes to have Skye brought to him – dead or alive.

Skye ended up encountering Finch “Finn” Finwick, a gay youth who wanted to help her in uncovering the truth about SDI, as well as Ava Lorenz, a homeless teen born with the ability to generate a perpetual amount of energy that she can manipulate into various forms. Together, these three wholly different individuals have banded together to expose the secret behind Project Singularity before it’s too late.

Feeling a need to protect her friends from SDI’s increasingly-aggressive assault against her, Skye decided to leave Finn behind at SafeHaven so that she could finally stop the genetics firm’s conspiracy for good.

Skye visited Dr. Douglas Dover once again to get answers about Project Singularity, but Dover was murdered by a sniper. The doctor was able to give Skye a USB file containing several important documents before his death. 

Meanwhile, Finn was arrested by Toronto Police for being implicated in Isaac Ellerton’s murder. His pleas of not being at the scene of the crime went unanswered due to nobody being able to vouch for his whereabouts.

As for Skye, things weren’t looking good for her either when she was confronted by Gerald Selfridge, SDI’s CEO. Joined by a group of armored super-soldiers dubbes “Genetic Extractors”, Selfridge claimed that the “time was now” for Skye — or rather Subject SK-591, as Selfridge referred to her — to reclaim her place in history as part of a reborn Project Singularity.

Fighting to the bitter end, Skye endured the worst Selfridge’s Extractors could throw at her, only to be brought under Selfridge’s control by a set of code words uttered by the ambitious head of SDI. The now mind-wiped Skye was ordered by Selfridge to be prepared for transport to Base Alpha in order to “help” complete the Project.

—

**Chapter I – No Hope**

**_Toronto Police Headquarters, 40 College Street – January 28th, 2016_ **

For at least a day, Finn was held in custody by Toronto Police for allegedly being the one who murdered Isaac Ellerton at Toronto General Health Centre a few days ago. He was currently sitting in one of the cells of the mostly-empty jail area of Police Headquarters.

Finn really didn’t have to think too hard about the how and why he ended up in this predicament. It was obviously yet another SDI scheme designed to frame him for Isaac’s death. Unfortunately for him, he really had no evidence to support his claims of SDI’s involvement in all this.

Although he was naturally worried about Skye’s whereabouts, Finn was more concerned about a prospective murder charge being attached to his name. He had many things that he wanted to do with his life — potentially living with Stephen O’Day as a happily married couple chief among these possibilities — which would possibly be ruined before they even got a chance to be done due to possibly having a criminal record.

Finn pulled out his cellphone and tried to text Stephen O’Day. He had been attempting to get a hold of the Toronto Marlies forward — and his loving boyfriend — for a while now, with messages ranging from “Can you help? In big trouble” to “Where where where are you?”

His latest text? “I really need you right now. I can’t do this.” Finn waited for a response from O’Day.

Seconds passed. No response.

As the seconds became minutes, Finn still had no response back from Stephen O’Day. That’s when the feeling of isolation and loneliness began to kick in. No Skye. No Stephen. Not even Ava to be there for him. This was rock bottom.

Finn buried his head into the jail cell’s bed and began to cry.

“Mr. Finwick, although you might have a case for your innocence,” Chief Alexandra MacDonald approached Finn’s cell, accompanied by another officer, “The facts do speak for themselves in terms of your involvement with this woman you call ‘Skye’ and the crimes she has to answer for.”

“I apologize for speaking out like this, miss,” Finn replied. “But you’ve got to believe me when I say that both me and Skye are innocent. It’s those SDI people you’re working with that’s the real problem.”

“You are aware that anything you say to me can be used against you in the court of law, are you, Mr. Finwick?” Chief MacDonald reminded the imprisoned youth. “If we find anything that runs contrary to your claims about our partnership with SDI personnel, you could be in for even more trouble beyond the situation you find yourself when you murdered Isaac Ellerton…”

“Again, I’m telling you, I didn’t kill Isaac. I wasn’t even at TGHC the night he died.” Finn retorted calmly.

“We’ll know soon enough, Mr. Finwick,” Chief MacDonald attempted to reassure Finn, despite this very serious situation at the moment. “In the meantime, however, we’re keeping you here until we go to trial next week.”

Chief MacDonald soon walked off, leaving Finn all alone in the jailing area of Police Headquarters.

Finn dug his head into both his palms. He was out of his element here, with nobody to turn to for help in his time of need. All he had left was hope that was slowly waning with every passing minute.

_ “Oh man, where the hell are you, Skye?”  _

—

**_SDI “Base Alpha”, Classified Location – 1100 hours_ **

“SELF-ANALYSIS INITIATED…”

“IDENTITY CONFIRMED – PROJECT SINGULARITY SUBJECT: SK-591 | ALIAS: “SKYE”? | F | 20 | 11/28/95”

“…ERROR: CANNOT CONFIRM ALIAS: “SKYE” = NAME NOT APPLICABLE”

Walking in a stilted motion, Subject SK-591 analyzed what she was seeing inside the narrow hallway that led to the Extraction Chamber inside SDI’s Base Alpha facility.

She looked to her left and began processing the information about the man that was looking right at her.

“IDENTITY CONFIRMED – SELFRIDGE, GERALD | SDI CEO | M | 70 | 8/23/45”

Mr. Selfridge faced Subject SK-591 and gave her a simple directive: “Prepare yourself for blood extraction inside the Extraction Chamber.”

“MISSION DIRECTIVE – ‘PREPARE FOR BLOOD EXTRACTION’’”

“DIRECTIVE ACKNOWLEDGED” 

Led by a group of scientists wearing grey labcoats bearing the SDI logo and soldiers in matching dark blue outfits, SK-591 entered the relatively-small circular chamber area that had a metal bed right in the middle of it as its centrepiece.

She was no longer dressed in her usual blue jacket and jeans, instead wearing a slim bodysuit meant to function like a medical gown. Her eyes still had that empty stare, as she was still under some sort of mind control that left her susceptible to every whim Mr. Selfridge had for her.

Mr. Selfridge, the ever-confident CEO of SDI, stood just outside the chamber, dressed in a labcoat instead of the business suit he usually wore. This was a long time coming for him and his ambitions.

He was joined by Dr. Ilsa Antrovich, head of Genetics and Advanced Research Projects for SDI. The Slovakian-born scientist had been with the company for over 20 years, even being a part of its failed Project Singularity initiative.

The two watched as SK-591 willingly lied down on that metal bed inside the chamber, with chain locks soon clasping her hands and feet to keep her in place. That might’ve been a bit too excessive given how SK-591 was essentially an obedient soldier now, but Selfridge was the kind of man who wanted to make sure to have all sorts of contingency plans in place.

“Perhaps it would be unbecoming of me to tell you why I have sought you for many years…” Selfridge was in the midst of his explanation. “You’ve wondered for quite sometime what this ‘conspiracy’ and Project Singularity was? The truth is, Subject SK-591…  _ you _ are Project Singularity.”

Although SK-591’s current “programming” left her as a mind-controlled puppet of Mr. Selfridge, there was a small part of her “old” self in her mind — the aspect that knew her true name was “Skye” and not some serial number — that was downright horrified at the revelation she had just heard.

“You’ve let yourself be clouded with false humanity all these years, SK-591…” Selfridge continued to rant. “…when the simple truth of the matter is that you are not even human. You were literally breeded inside this very facility to be the first of an army of post-human soldiers designed to topple governments, eliminate empires, and bring about permanent ends to warfare as we know it.”

“The Canadian government, unfortunately, doesn’t share my company’s philosophy these days. That’s why we’ve focused on strengthening our deals with the black market to potentially auction you and my new Singularity army off — for a price.”

Selfridge glanced towards the metal bed that SK-591 was chained to, admiring his dirty work with a small grin on his face. 

“Project Singularity was meant to be my crowning achievement: A singular legion of super-soldiers under the command of military leaders to minimize casualties of war,” Selfridge’s delusions were in full flight now. “And you, Subject SK-591, were destined to lead this army as the forerunner of a new dawn.”

SK-591 was frozen in place. Even if she wanted to break free, she really had no choice in the matter thanks to the mental commands placed on her when Selfridge activated some sort of programming through a series of code words. Then there was the pressing issue of her superhuman abilities being nullified by the suppressing dust she had been exposed to in the Port Lands a day ago.

“But, enough about me… it’s time we talked about your contributions to this monumental project.” 

The advanced viewscreens behind Selfridge switched from the static image of the SDI logo to what was presumed to be a virtual representation of SK-591’s DNA makeup as it stood at the moment. Some portions of the double-helix were completely blue, which appeared to indicate an approximation of SK-591’s superpowers. 

“For years, I have sought you and the very blood that flows within you that has made you into the perfect weapon,” Selfridge once again turned his attention to Subject SK-591. “You are probably aware by now that you are an incredibly gifted young woman with extraordinary… talents. You have us to thank for that.”

“Originally, Project Singularity was designed to create artificial humans with extraordinary abilities in order to help with the cure of life-threatening disease such as HIV and Ebola. That… was what my former colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Emery intended.”

Selfridge didn’t exactly sound nostalgic when he got to the subject of Dr. Elizabeth Emery, one of the doctors who had helped put together Project Singularity back in the early 90s. Due to a difference in opinion regarding the Project, the two had a falling out.

“Fortunately, I evolved that concept, implanting years of combat and tactical knowledge into your mind upon your creation, to complement your unique abilities.” Selfridge was deep into his ranting. 

“I also had latent programming embedded within you that would change you into the perfect soldier focused only on warfare upon the uttering of a set of code words. It… was the only way to ensure that your mind remained focused on a singular vision when the time came for it.”

The viewscreens faded into a pseudo-montage of SK-591 using her powers in a variety of situations — most of them involving her beating down SDI soldiers.

“Post-human strength, endurance, agility… and even enhanced self-healing. Abilities perfectly suited for the perfect warrior.” Selfridge still went on with his spiel. “A perfect warrior designed to become the next generation of global warfare.”

“It is just unfortunate that you have chosen to waste these abilities on some childish attempt at being a ‘hero’ of some sort. That is why I decided to take matters into my own hands.”

Various images and videos of Isaac Ellerton’s murder, Finn apparently being implicated in it, and Toronto Police arresting him were now being shown on the two viewscreens.

“It seems that your friend Mr. Finwick has found himself in a bit of a bind…” Selfridge seemed to be quite satisfied with what his people were doing in Toronto to endanger Finn.

“My operative Brandt framed your precarious ally for Mr. Ellerton’s death. And on my orders, he’ll finish the job. Better yet… maybe I’ll send you to personally end Mr. Finwick’s life. It’ll be the ultimate test of your new commitment as the face of the reborn Project Singularity.”

While the usual mission specs continued to repeatedly flash inside SK-591’s mind, something was happening at that exact moment that was just about ready to change everything for her.

“NEW OBJECTIVE? – ELIMINATE TARGET DESIGNATED “FINWICK, FINCH” – Y/N?”

“ANALYZING TARGET…”

Subject SK-591 began to gather the information presented about Finch Finwick in her mind. Despite the Project Singularity programming apparently overwriting all her past memories, She was beginning to recognize Finch as someone she knew personally, almost like she knew him by another name.

Whatever it was that SK-591 saw in those images caused a pool of memories to flood right back in her head. She realized that something was not adding up. She knew that whatever she was turned into by Selfridge was not who she really was.

“IDENTITY CONFIRMED – FINWICK, FINCH | ALIAS: “FINN” | M | 21 | 03/22/94”

“TARGET DESIGNATED – IGNORE? Y/N” 

“TARGET IGNORED | INSUFFICIENT INTEL | NON-HOSTILE”

“RE-ANALYZING PERSONAL NAME FILE: “SKYE” — NAME CONFIRMED”

SK-591 accessed more memories of herself, now seeing someone that looked remarkably similar to her standing with this “Finn” character. 

She was remembering this exact moment in time… the first time she rescued “Finn” from some thugs. Literally the first time she met him.

Just as SK-591 analyzed “Finn” even further, another image cropped up in her mind. This time, it was of a teenager. Again, it appeared that SK-591 knew who this young girl was.

“NON-HOSTILE IDENTITY CONFIRMED – LORENZ, AVA | F | 14 | 6/13/01”

As SK-591 flashed through Ava’s file, she saw something that was somehow very familiar to her: a rabbit-themed pendant.

“ARTIFACT ANALYSIS – MEMENTO FROM NON-HOSTILE “AVA LORENZ” | ACCESS FILE? Y/N”

It was the pendant that Ava had given her as a token of friendship. As SK-591 studied the rabbit pendant, even more memories started to bleed through. 

SK-591 heard Ava’s voice calling her by another name: “Skye”. That was a name that apparently was “not applicable” according to her programming, yet it was one that brought unexpected comfort to SK-591 when she heard the memory of Ava call her by that name.

“…promise me you ‘n Finn will come and visit again, okay?” Ava’s words rang repeatedly in SK-591’s mind. There really was no denying it. She knew who Finn was. She knew that she had a promise to fulfill to Ava. She knew that they were her friends.

Now it was all coming back to her. Maybe “Subject SK-591” was not who she really was. 

She again visualized the “Skye” file, now 99.9% of her true identity.

“IDENTITY CONFIRMED – SKYE [SURNAME UNKNOWN] | F | 20 | 11/28/95”

“DIRECTIVE OVERRIDE — IDENTITY CONFIRMATION INCORRECT”

“REINSTATING MISSION DIRECTIVE – PREPARE FOR BLOOD EXTRACTION? Y/N”

“DIRECTIVE IGNORED | DOES NOT APPLY WITH MISSION…”

_ “To hell with the mission…”  _ That small aspect of Skye’s “old” self was starting to reassert itself. Through some force of will — spurred on by the sight of her friend in great peril — Skye was starting to break free of Selfridge’s programming. 

“Dover! Auerbach! Wilmut!” Selfridge, sensing what was about to happen with his “crown jewel”, shouted out the code words that previously brought Skye under his control. 

“Subject SK-591! I command you to stay still! That is a direct order!”

This time around, Skye was not having any of it. She was able to resist falling into Selfridge’s sway once again, powered by her rejuvenated inner strength.

The blank expression of subjugation on Skye’s face was now gone — replaced by a cocksure smirk directed towards her captors.

And just like that, the Singularity mission specs and data streams slowly disappeared in Skye’s head. She was back to seeing the world through the lens of an actual human being — albeit one created artificially.

“This is not possible…” Selfridge was aghast with confusion. “The Singularity programming was supposed to have permanently erased all your memories!”

“The only thing that’s going to be erased are your twisted plans for me and my friends.” Skye — not Subject SK-591 or whatever Selfridge tried to turn her into — gritted her teeth angrily. She wasn’t going to stand by and let SDI’s thugs hurt Finn or Ava or anyone else any longer.  


All the mission directives, hidden code words, and other such measures used to control Skye simply couldn’t overpower her determination to protect the people she called her friends.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Selfridge was one step ahead of her.

With a press of a button on the digital panel Selfridge stood in front of, the slick-haired head of SDI activated some sort of electrical shock mechanism that caused currents of electricity to shock Skye as she was chained to the steel bed.

Normally, this type of electricity wouldn’t harm Skye in any way, but she was still weakened by the suppressing dust, which meant her superhuman endurance was still not up to its usual levels.

“You may have disabled the Project Singularity directives programmed into your mind, but I have installed measures in place in the event of your rebellion.” That display of superiority from Selfridge was in full form once more.

“That is why I took the time to implant a ‘compliance chip’ in you to prevent any form of resistance.”

“What’s the matter, Selfridge…”  Skye still wasn’t about to let herself be left at Selfridge’s mercy, even with whatever measures that the SDI CEO had to silence her. “…afraid of a fair fight?”

The grey-haired head of SDI hacked for a bit before again pressing the button to shock Skye in the futile hopes of forcing her to submit. 

Selfridge watched intently while Skye tried her best to resist the very real pain that she was feeling from the amount of voltage that she was being assaulted with.

Dr. Antrovich, on the other hand, looked like she was gradually becoming horrified by the suffering Skye was being forced to endure at the hands of her boss. She kept quiet, however, because the doctor didn’t want to say or do anything that could jeopardize her contributions to the experiments.

“And to think… you could’ve avoided all of this pain by simply remaining compliant to my every command.” Selfridge lamented as Skye somehow was still conscious even as the intensity of the electroshocks increased.

The pain from the shocks left Skye convulsing on the metal bed and temporarily paralyzed. Yet, despite the torture she was enduring, Skye was still not ready to give up. 

There was that fire in Skye’s eyes that kept on burning, representing a desire to push herself to press on even if her body was being torn apart like it was at the moment.

Powers or no powers, Skye was determined to kick Selfridge’s ass and save Finn however she could.

The almost-Machiavellian SDI founder pressed another button on the digital panel, which caused the restraints keeping Skye locked against the metal bed to loosen, then causing the bed to jettison her to the floor. He was growing tired of Skye continually finding ways to overcome everything he threw at her.

“I offered you a chance to be a part of something historic… and this is how you choose to act.” Selfridge’s irritation was loud and clear in his tone of voice.

“And now you will suffer for it.” 

Selfridge turned his attention to that wrist gadget he used to both keep his blood levels normalized and to control his legion of Genetic Extractors. He tapped the stylized arrowhead symbol on the screen display of his gadget.

On cue, two holes on the floor inside the small chamber that Skye was trapped in opened up as two armored figures ascended from said holes.

“If Extractors Beta and Delta have to beat you to death to draw blood from your corpse, then so be it.” It seemed that Selfridge no longer cared if Skye died at the hands of his gargantuan enforcers. Her defiance forced his hand. 

“Project Singularity will be reborn… even from the ashes of your unfortunate demise.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Act II – No Pain, No Gain**

Although she really was in no condition to even try and fight, Skye prepared herself as Extractors Beta and Delta looked down upon her weakened body. Steeling herself for a fight was something that always seemed to be second nature for her.

Beta brandished his twin gatling guns and began to open fire towards where Skye was sprawled on the ground.

Skye simply rolled out of the way to avoid the bullets. She really didn’t have much of a choice, considering her being depowered and all. Unfortunately, Skye found herself beneath the feet of Delta, who picked her up off the floor and slammed her against the window of the chamber right in front of Selfridge.

The SDI CEO grimly stared on from behind the glass. Even though it really wasn’t clear from his expression, Selfridge was taking some form of delight over two of his armored soldiers easily handling Skye like they were at the moment.

Thanks to the suppressant dust, Skye really wasn’t able to fight fluently as she usually did — nor did she have the strength to match the two Extractors’ own strength — so she was forced to mostly evade their attacks to the best of her flagging abilities.

Delta struck Skye in the gut with an armored knee, but the blue-haired young woman held on to his leg in the hopes of trying a counterattack. Extractor Delta responded by easily shaking Skye off his leg, causing her to fly right into another of the chamber windows.

 _“This is not going as I planned…”_ Skye muttered to herself inaudibly. She knew she was on the losing end of this fight so far… and it was going to end badly for her if it continued the way it did.

Extractor Beta tried to charge right into where Skye was left prone, but she moved at the last possible second, causing Beta to get a faceful of glass instead. This left the massive soldier completely dazed.

Skye saw her opportunity and grabbed one of Beta’s arms, aiming his gatling gun towards Delta, who had started to move in her direction. The blasts from the gatling gun was enough to slightly slow Delta down.

That didn’t seem to do much good, however, as Delta quickly recovered and again had Skye in his sights. And then Beta lifted himself back up while pushing Skye aside. The brief moment of hope seemed have ended as quickly as it started.

Skye weakly avoided Beta’s leg kick, feeling even more exhausted than usual. Despite dodging Beta’s attack, she was unable to pick up on Delta hitting her from behind with his massive gauntlet.

The impact of the gauntlet connecting with her back caused Skye to yelp out in pain as she crashed into the chamber floor. Delta drove his foot onto Skye’s back repeatedly, hoping to literally break his enemy in half.

Dr. Antrovich couldn’t stand to see Selfridge’s Extractors decimating Skye without a hint of remorse. She bowed her head against the top of her left fist, unable to watch any more of the violence unfolding in that chamber.

“Excellent work.” Selfridge was just about finished with this “experiment” of his. “Now, let us put an end to all of this. Extractor Beta, Extractor Delta… finish her.”

The two armored soldiers acknowledged their creator’s demands. Delta picked Skye off the floor and held her into a reverse bearhug while Beta readied the rocket boosters on the back of his armor and his boots.

Although she was on the verge of losing consciousness due to the seemingly ceaseless attack of the Extractors, as well as the unbreakable bearhug she found herself in, Skye was still able to sense Beta preparing to charge right into her.

Using up the last of whatever reserve of energy she had in her, Skye slipped out of Delta’s grip at the very possible last second, which caused Beta to fly full force at his own ally rather than his intended target.

Skye no longer had the strength to stand up, but her keen instincts was all she needed here to temporarily take the Genetic Extractors out of the equation. She struggled to lift herself from the floor, managing to at least get herself to one knee.

“C’mon, Selfridge…” Skye snarled in anger towards the man responsible for her torment. “I may not have my superpowers… but I can still kick your ass all over this cha— AAAAAAGH!”

Selfridge again activated the compliance chip’s electrifying effects, which caused Skye to once again be paralyzed with pain. More than annoyed with Skye’s brazen audacity, Selfridge intensified the voltage on the chip’s shocking abilities.

“What is the meaning of this, sir?” Dr. Antrovich finally opened up. “I thought we were supposed to keep her alive for as long as possible?”

Selfridge ignored his employee’s concerns and remained silent. He was focused on the pain he was putting Skye through in the chamber right now. This was now simply a matter of revenge for Selfridge aimed towards Skye for continually getting in the way of his plans for Project Singularity’s rebirth.

Skye tried her best to fight the agony she was feeling, but she simply was too weak to keep resisting the compliance chip’s failsafe mechanism.

With one last shock to her system, Skye dropped to both knees before falling over to the floor, completely incapacitated by both the Extractors’ assault and the compliance chip lodged in her neck.

Selfridge simply watched with his arms crossed as his Extractors had yet again overpowered Skye, easily pacifying her efforts of trying to rebel.

Dr. Antrovich, meanwhile, didn’t appear to share her colleague’s views on how Skye was being treated by the Extractors. It seemed that she was beginning to have some second doubts about how Selfridge was proceeding with relaunching Project Singularity.

“Sir, if I may…” Dr. Antrovich spoke up again. She briefly glanced at Skye’s limp, unconscious body. “Don’t you think the Subject will be more useful to us alive?”

“I suppose.” Selfridge reacted coldly. “Beta, Delta… bring SK-591 to the Detention Cells at once. When she wakes up, we will complete the Project like you’ve wanted, Doctor.”

The two Genetic Extractors lifted Skye off the floor before exiting the chamber area. The group of scientists and soldiers soon followed suit on Mr. Selfridge’s orders. Dr. Antrovich hesitated for a bit before joining the enclave that was on their way to the Detention Cells.

—

**_Kensington Market – An Hour Before Noon_ **

Ava was unusually worried on this day. She had been for quite some time since the day Skye and Finn left her in order to keep her safe.

Spending lunch at Pie’s The Limit, a restaurant that unsurprisingly specialized in pies, Ava was watching the news, which had non-stop coverage on the Toronto Police’s ongoing investigation/search for Skye, who they believed was a criminal to be prosecuted. The report was discussing Finn’s arrest for allegedly murdering Isaac Ellerton late last night.

“…Police say that the 21-year old Finwick was at the scene at Toronto General Health Centre at the time of Isaac Ellerton’s murder,” the City-One News anchor commented over footage of Finn being loaded onto a police car from last night.

“Finwick is suspected of working in collusion with a young superhuman only known by the alias of ‘Skye’, who is wanted by Police for questioning in a series of high-profile incidents that have caused over half-a-million dollars in damage.”

Ava knew that there was something terribly wrong with the claims of both Finn and Skye being alleged criminals. They were her friends, both targets of a dangerous conspiracy, and definitely not the perceived threat that Police believed them to be.

Edith Parkes, an eighteen year-old waitress at Pie’s The Limit, noticed Ava looking none-too-pleased about City-One’s report on her friends. She went over to Ava’s table and grabbed a seat to talk with her.

“Ava? You don’t look happy… what’s up?” Edith Parkes asked.

“That news report is all wrong!” Ava said loudly while she stood up. “Finn an’ Skye are not bad people! They’re my friends!”

“Wait, Ava… calm down… calm down.” Edith Parkes put a hand out to get the teenaged superhuman to keep her cool. “I believe you. I mean, these two people you’re fond are essentially Toronto’s Most Wanted, but you feel so strongly about them.”

“I know… I know.” Ava sat back down before grabbing a bite of her peach pie. “If I didn’t know any better, it’s those evil scientists…”

“Evil… scientists?” Edith Parkes was puzzled.

“Y’know… the ones that keep chasing Skye and tried to kidnap me, Edith. Did I ever tell you about that time these scientist tried to turn me into some freaky zombie along with all the other homeless people?”

“You did. A few times, actually.” Edith Parkes responded flatly. She had heard Ava’s story about Skye and Finn several times, as she was a frequent customer at Johnny Sam’s Cafe a few blocks away from Pie’s The Limit.

“I’m sorry ‘bout that,” Ava chuckled. “I mean, I know I almost died there, but it’s the first I ever met both of them. It’s kind of a special day for me.”

“I can see that. So.. how do you plan on helping these two people?” Edith Parkes curiously asked Ava about her plans.

“First, I gotta help Finn by goin’ to the hospital the news mentioned to see if I can find any evidence that’ll clear his name.” Ava explained her idea. “Then maybe, he can help me help Skye with her thing.”

Edith Parkes simply just shrugged as Ava left the restaurant so that she could go to the scene of the apparent crime.

—

**_Toronto General Health Centre – Lunchtime_ **

It took roughly 46 minutes for Ava to leave Pie’s The Limit and arrive at TGHC in the hopes of trying to clear Finn’s name. Getting to the hospital was certainly the easy part, now came the matter of searching for the necessary evidence.

Unfortunately for Ava, she didn’t know where to start in terms of finding what she needed. She didn’t know exactly where Isaac was murdered and she really wasn’t much of a detective.

Amongst the police cars and news trucks parked around the entrance of TGHC, Ava spotted a panel truck branded in the red, black, and blue color scheme of City-One News that was peculiarly parked away from the other vehicles. To add to the strangeness of the situation, the City-One truck was actually parked over some of the sidewalk that was nearby the shipping area of TGHC.

From the back of that truck, a group of people in matching light grey turtleneck sweaters and black slacks emerged, quickly entering the TGHC shipping area entrance. Ava slinked off away from public view, so that she could inspect the City-One truck further.

Looking at the back of the City-One truck, Ava noticed several crates all marked with various serial numbers on them. Whatever those turtleneck men were up to, they certainly weren’t actual employees of City-One News. She lifted the cover off one of the crates, noticing that the crate was filled with high-tech weaponry and items used for the cleanup of evidence.

 _“Somethin’s not right here…”_ Ava commented in a hushed tone before sneaking off to where the turtleneck men walked into. The door to the shipping area entrance was locked shut, at least until Ava pried it open using a small bit of her light powers from her index finger.

Inside the shipping area entrance, Ava got a peek at the last remaining turtleneck-wearing man exit through a door at the very end of the hallway that connected to the shipping room.

Ava caught up to that turtleneck man quickly, rendering him unconscious with a tiny bolt of light to the back of the man’s neck. One by one, the other turtleneck men fell at the hands of Ava’s light-power-augmented attack. All that was left was one last turtleneck-wearing man, who already was out of the hallway and into the stairwell.

Following that last turtleneck-wearing man into the stairwell, Ava saw him heading up the stairs all the way to the third floor. She followed as close as she could without being spotted. The turtleneck man stepped into the third floor entrance.

Peering behind the small window on the door, Ava peeked at the turtleneck man meeting with another person in military gear and a black combat outfit. She opened the door slightly, just so she could hear what those two people were saying.

“…The police took the bait, it would seem.” Ava heard the turtleneck man speak in a gravelly voice. “They’ve got Subject SK-591’s friend in custody, keeping him out of our way.”

“We’ll start the next phase of our plans for Finch Finwick soon, Wesley,” the man wearing military gear answered back. It was at this point that Ava recognized the man’s voice belonging to one Samuel Brandt, the squad leader of SDI’s Repossession Task Force.

“In the meantime, we need to get this evidence cleaned up so that the cops don’t suspect a thing. We’ll need their full cooperation to implement our strategies against Finwick.”

Wesley, the man in the turtleneck, was about to say something to Brandt, but he noticed Ava from behind the stairwell entrance.

“It seems that we have some unexpected company, Mr. Brandt.”

As Wesley tried to approach the door Ava was hiding behind, he got blasted into the wall by a burst of pink energy. Brandt unholstered his assault rifle from the back of his vest and pointed it at the door.

“Ms. Lorenz, you don’t have to keep hiding.” Brandt said condescendingly, assault rifle fully armed. “I know you’re here, so just show yourself right now.”

The stairway door swung open as Ava stepped out, assuming a fighting stance.

“What did you do to Finn…?” Ava angrily asked.

“We simply took him out of the equation, with help courtesy of the Toronto Police,” Brandt arrogantly replied. “I murdered his friend Isaac Ellerton and simply planted phony evidence to implicate him as the killer.”

“As for your superhuman friend, she is currently being indoctrinated into the Project as we speak.”

Ava tried to hold her emotions in check, despite what Brandt was telling her about what SDI was doing to both Skye and Finn. She literally had the power to stop Brandt’s plans right here and now.

“Unfortunately, while you now know our plans for your friends,” Brandt signaled behind him to summon a group of SDI soldiers — all of whom were heavily-armed. “I’m afraid that you will not leave this hospital alive.”

—

**_Base Alpha Detention Cells – 1130 hours_ **

Inside the highly-advanced holding area of Base Alpha’s Detention Cells, Skye began to stir awake, still feeling as weak as ever. The suppression dust inside her body was now taking full effect, leaving Skye completely powerless.

To make matters worse for Skye, she now knew that Finn was in great danger back in Toronto, which made it a pretty unfortunate circumstance that she was helpless in preventing a catastrophe from happening to her friend.

Needless to say, Skye was at her lowest point right now. Things had never looked as dire as they did presently, and it appeared that Skye was just about ready to give up.

As she laid down on the bed inside her cell, Skye was deep in her thoughts once again. While that urge to just simply quit was now greater than ever due to the situation she found herself in, Skye knew that if she threw it all away now, she’d be letting down the people she cared for as a result.

Skye realized that she could never live with the burden of failing to stop SDI’s Singularity conspiracy if she gave up.

No matter how grim things were looking, Skye was going to find a way to get herself out of this — for better or worse. That was just how she approached most problems, and a lack of superpowers was not going to change that anytime soon.

“How are you feeling…?” The thick, Slovakian-accented voice of Dr. Antrovich startled Skye as she emerged from the entrance of the Detention Cells. “I do apologize for how my superior has been treating you for the past while or so.”

“Why would you even care?” Skye didn’t seem too welcoming of Dr. Antrovich’s concern for her. “Is it to make sure I’m all nice and ready for being one of Selfridge’s mindless soldiers again?”

“That’s… not why I’m here.” Dr. Antrovich responded while she got a chair and set it up before sitting on it. “In fact, I think you know why I’m here right now, Subject SK-5… or do you prefer ‘Skye?’”

“Wait… how’d you know my name?” Skye slowly got up from the mattress she was lying down on. “I don’t ever recall meeting you before today, whoever you are.”

“You are correct, but thanks to our company’s efforts in tracking you down for these they’ve planned, I have a fair bit of knowledge of who you are.” Dr. Antrovich took a sip from her cup of coffee.

“I’m Dr. Ilsa Antrovich with Genetics and Advanced Research Projects. Don’t worry, though. I’m nothing like Mr. Selfridge or any of the other SDI employees you may have encountered. I have been largely numbed by their collective obsession over extracting your extraordinary secrets. What Selfridge’s super-soldiers did to you earlier was the last straw, so to speak.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Skye asked. She understandably was mistrustful of anyone associated with SDI, even if they were sympathetic to her plight. “Next thing you know, you’re just going to stab me in the back.”

“If I didn’t intervene back in the Operating Chamber earlier, Selfridge’s monstrosities would’ve likely killed you right there and then, especially in your weakened state right now.” Dr. Antrovich was quick with an answer.

Skye calmed herself down slightly. Maybe Antrovich did have a point about what she was saying.

“You need to trust me right now, Skye, because I have the answers that you are seeking about Project Singularity, your powers, and more importantly… how you were created.”

Skye contemplated what Dr. Antrovich was saying, her curiosity greatly piqued now more than ever. Was there truly more to this whole story than she thought?

“Prove it.” Skye got right to the point.

“Mr. Selfridge may have been right in what he’s been telling you, but he conveniently forgot to mention what happened to you after your creation.” Dr. Antrovich continued to explain herself to Skye, hoping to win the young depowered superhuman’s trust. She deactivated the laser field that kept Skye in her cell so that she could enter inside.

“But, I think it’s time you knew the truth.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Act III – Endless Possibilities**

**_December 6th, 1995 – The End of Project Singularity_ **

Officially, Project Singularity ended in 1993, as far as the public was concerned. However, on this cold December night in 1995, it was still going strong as ever. Just eight days ago, the Project bred its first subject, a baby designated as “Subject SK-591”. That red-haired infant was currently asleep inside an advanced incubation chamber within the so-called “Birthing Room” of Base Alpha.

Mr. Selfridge stood inside this room, joined by a woman who had shoulder-length brown hair. This was Dr. Elizabeth Emery, one of the heads who stayed on the Project, hoping to get it back to its original intent of creating superhumans to cure life-threatening diseases. Unfortunately for her, Selfridge had other ideas.

Mr. Selfridge was intending to implant latent programming in SK-591, the first true success of Project Singularity, that would essentially transform the infant into a living weapon once she fully matured. The infant was already imbued with enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and endurance upon her creation on November 28th… with these powers eventually manifesting themselves in due time.

“She is only a baby! You can’t do that to her!” Dr. Emery was repulsed at what she was hearing.

“That thing is not a baby. It is a weapon with the potential to be the ultimate soldier.” Selfridge expressed his intentions for the infant inside the free-standing incubation chamber. “Subject SK-591 has been blessed with abilities that will make her into the new face of global warfare once she reaches full maturity.”

“Mr. Selfridge, with all due respect, I simply cannot let you turn that baby into nothing more but one of your pet projects for the military.” Emery protested once more.

Dr. Emery recently learned of Selfridge’s hidden dealings with several officials from the Canadian military regarding the creation of super-soldiers for black ops missions on behalf of the country. Upon doing so, she simply couldn’t stand it anymore.

“I’ve already set up deals in place with contacts with the Department of National Defence, Elizabeth. Your contributions in helping breed SK-591 into what she will grow into in the near future are greatly appreciated.” Selfridge ignored his colleague’s pleas.

“I can’t believe that you could be this heartless.” Dr. Emery remained unimpressed by what she was hearing.

“There is no room in progress for kindness.” Selfridge observed Subject SK-591 in her incubation chamber. He had all sorts of possibilities in mind for the infant, all of them unsurprisingly involving military applications.

“I can’t continue being a part of what the Singularity program has become.” Emery had seen enough.

“You can’t do this to me… you can’t do this to the program!” Selfridge was not happy with Dr. Emery’s refusal to continue with what he viewed as a revolutionary project.

Despite Selfridge’s protests, Dr. Emery left the Birthing Room in protest of his visions for the Project.

“Sir, do you wish for us to go after Dr. Emery?” One of the lightly-dressed guards that stood inside the Birthing Room asked Selfridge.

“No.” Selfridge raised up a dismissive arm. “We can proceed with the Project without her help. We have enough to create more future super-soldiers like SK-591 over there. Dr. Emery’s exit will do nothing to stop Project Singularity from reaching its apex.”

—

**_Present Day_ **

“So, Selfridge was right about me being some sort of artificial superhuman…” Skye spoke quietly, as if the truth about what she really was had some effect on her psyche at that exact moment.

“Maybe I was just meant to be a weapon of mass destruction after all…”

“While whatever Mr. Selfridge has said about you is accurate,” Dr. Antrovich said in response to Skye’s despondence, “He’s ignored the fact that you’ve managed to rewrite your own destiny by being who you’ve chosen to be… someone who regularly puts the needs of others above her own so selflessly.”

“I heard everything he said, about how my powers… my entire life was just some empty fabrication so I could become some mindless killer.” Skye still wasn’t quite convinced about Dr. Antrovich’s sincerity. “I know it’s a struggle for me to try and not believe his words… it’s just so hard not to.”

“It just eats away at you, when you learn that your whole life was just one big lie.”

Dr. Antrovich saw just how much these past few hours were affecting Skye in ways not only physically or mentally, but also on an emotional level. Seeing the artificially-made superhuman emote in a way that was very human made Antrovich feel some guilt over being so complicit in Selfridge’s sick fascination with reclaiming Skye for his Project.

Antrovich knew that she was partially at fault for Skye’s suffering, and she was ready to make amends however she could.

“Listen, Skye.. while Mr. Selfridge and his teams were tracking you down endlessly, I was watching what they were seeing. You know what I saw in you as I watched while you instinctively saved lives?” Dr. Antrovich adjusted her glasses briefly. “I saw the infant that Dr. Emery loved so greatly when she took you from this place those many years ago.”

“That same amount of love has rubbed off on you, especially with the way you care for the people you’ve chosen as your friends. It’s what Dr. Emery would’ve wanted out of you.”

Skye simply couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Dr. Emery — someone closely affiliated with a corporate entity that endlessly hunted her down and everything she had come to care for — might’ve very well been her surrogate mother.

Whether she liked the answers or not, everything was fitting together now…

—

**_Toronto General Health Centre – Mid-Afternoon_ **

Despite being heavily outnumbered by Brandt and his strike team — all of whom were armed to the teeth — Ava fearlessly stood ready for a fight. The evidence that was going to help clear Finn’s name was literally staring her right in the face.

“Y’better tell me what you’ve got planned for Finn…” Ava threatened as pink energy began to emanate from her hands. “…or you’re all going to regret it.”

“You really think you stand a chance against the finest task force money could ever buy?” Brandt was as confident as ever. He readied his pistol while the four-man strike team that was with him stood by his side.

“So you’d better just stand down right now, because your friend Skye and her sidekick won’t be here to save you.”

Ava trembled briefly in her place, but she was not in the mood for yielding to the people who framed her friend for a murder he did not commit and tried to do horrible things to her other friend. Ava’s eyes started to glow in that same shade of pink that bathed her hands.

Brandt knew what was coming next. He motioned towards his strike team, who all readied their weaponry. “On my signal, open fire.”

 _“Oh boy…”_ Ava gulped. Even though she had extraordinary energy abilities on her side, she certainly was not Skye. Ava was not bulletproof, nor did she have the same kind of combat acumen that Skye did. That meant one wrong move in this situation would end in death for her.

“NOW!”

On cue, Brandt’s strike team fired away at Ava, who blocked the bullets by willing a pink energy field to surround her entire body. This was something that Ava had never done before, and it was quite clear in how she was straining in just keeping the energy field up for as long as she did.

Ava felt the strength of her energy field dissipating under the continued gunfire she was facing. She could not keep up like this any longer. In desperation, Ava concentrated all the energy that she had in her and pushed the field of pink forward into Brandt and his men.

The hallway was enveloped in pink energy while Brandt and the SDI strike team were knocked backwards by Ava’s defensive maneuver. The teenager fell to one knee, but she managed to maintain consciousness this time around, unlike the previous instances when she expended her energy powers to their absolute limits.

Unfortunately for Ava, however, she was now feeling quite fatigued as a result of her display of power. She fell to an all-fours position, trying her best to recover from expending her energy the way she did.

Brandt got himself back up, using the hallway wall as leverage. He was not amused by the fact that a little kid had managed to easily defeat his team of elite soldiers. Losing to a superhuman like Skye was one thing, but this was far more humiliating for the ex-JTF-2 veteran.

“Now you’ve really pissed me off, kid.” Brandt stood over Ava, prepared to make her pay for her interference in SDI’s plans.

“I’ve never had to kill a kid to get a mission accomplished, but you have really left me with no choice, Ms. Lorenz.”

Brandt leveled his gun at Ava’s head. Despite her earlier show of courage, Ava whimpered in a bit of fear. She really didn’t want to die here. Not when she still had a whole life to look forward too.

Before Brandt could fire, he suddenly saw a hole through his body armor. Blood began to flow from that bullet hole, as Brandt soon collapsed to the floor due to the rapid loss of blood.

Ava turned to her back and saw SSgt. Derick Eddison of the Toronto Police standing at the hallway entrance, smoking gun in hand. It seemed that Eddison had some unfinished business with Brandt after that confrontation at Robarts Library a few days ago.

“Don’t you worry, miss. I’m not here to arrest you.” Eddison holstered the gun before he approached Ava. “I heard everything Brandt said about this whole thing, and I do believe that clears this Finch Finwick guy that you seem to know.”

“Y’mean Finn? He and Skye are in trouble right now…” Ava answered as she shook Eddison’s hand.. “…I’ve gotta help them both!”

“Tell you what, it seems that my officers have Finn in custody back at headquarters for the crime that Mr. Brandt here actually did,” Eddison spoke assuredly. “You come with me to the station and we’ll get him free.”

“And what about Skye?” Ava was concerned about the fate of her “big sister”. “Can we help her too?”

“I dunno. I was near the last place my fellow officers were trailing her at the Port Lands…” Eddison led Ava into the elevator so that they could head back to the main floor of TGHC. “Once the excitement died down, it seemed that Skye just vanished.”

“Oh no…” Ava gasped. She had images of Skye in some sort of grave danger playing in her head over and over again.

“I really don’t know much about your friend, miss,” Eddison said. “But I know firsthand how strong she is. That kind of strength must’ve come from somewhere…”

—

**_December 8th, 1995 – The Road to Freedom_ **

“UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED.” The mechanized voice of Base Alpha’s security system repeatedly intoned as Dr. Emery entered the Birthing Room.

Mr. Selfridge’s continued callousness regarding the infant known as Subject SK-591 had finally gotten to Emery, who decided that enough was enough. Her plan was to simply release the infant from the incubator she was being held in and then find a way to escape.

Before entering the Birthing Room, Emery made sure to activate the security sensors so that she could get inside amidst the controlled chaos.

Upon making her way into the room, Emery saw two guards wearing labcoats guarding SK-591’s chamber.

“And what are you two doing standing in front of the subject?” Emery maintained a modicum of authority. She was one of the heads of Project Singularity, after all. “We have an unauthorized trespasser lurking somewhere in this building and you’re both just standing here of all places?”

“Um… we were ordered by Mr. Selfridge to guard Subject SK-591’s incubation chamber at all costs.” One of the labcoat guards spoke up.

“I’ll personally keep watch over Subject SK-591’s chamber, Abrams.” Emery again reiterated her authority. “You and Corver just worry about finding the intruder that’s infiltrated these premises.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Corver answered as he and Abrams soon ran off from the Birthing Room, leaving Dr. Emery all alone with baby SK-591.

She pressed her hand against the glass chamber, observing the still-asleep SK-591. Emery couldn’t help but admire at how peaceful the baby was while sound asleep. On the digital keypad that lined the chamber door, Emery punched in the code to open the glass door (“2-5-8-6”), but it didn’t work. Someone must have changed the access code at some point without Emery’s knowledge.

Left with no other options, Dr. Emery simply used her access card to open the chamber. She picked up the infant and held it in her arms. Fortunately, baby SK-591 was still asleep, which meant that Emery could slip out of the room undetected.

Unfortunately, she was stopped in her tracks by Dr. Yates, another one of the scientists working on Project Singularity.

“Elizabeth, wh… what are you doing here?” Dr. Yates asked nervously.

“John, I’m sorry I can’t chat right now, but you need to get me to the Base’s exit right now.” Dr. Emery commented. “It’s important business.”

“I’d love to help, but we’re currently under lockdown and….” Dr. Yates rattled off a stock remark before noticing the baby hidden under Dr. Emery’s coat. “…is that Subject SK-591 you’ve got there?”

“So you’re the intruder… why would you break the Subject out of her cham–UGGGGH!”

Before Dr. Yates could inform anyone of Emery’s planned “kidnapping”, he was knocked against the glass wall of the connecting bridge that linked the island mass that consisted Base Alpha to the dry lands of Killarney Provincial Park, which was partially being used by SDI to house storage facilities for its materials.

“I’m so sorry, John. There’s really just no turning back for me now.” Emery stood over Dr. Yate’s writhing body before being spotted by two SDI guards, who soon gave chase to the now-former co-head of Project Singularity.

Dr. Emery ran as fast as she could across the underwater bridge, desperation to liberate baby SK-591 from the hellhole that was Base Alpha now kicking in. The guards began to open fire on Emery, but the bullets managed to miss her completely right as she made it to the elevator that would take her back to SDI’s facility on Killarney Provincial Park.

Upon reaching ground level on the elevator, Dr. Emery was welcomed by a familiar face. It was Mr. Selfridge, who stood with a holstered gun on his pants.

Selfridge tried to feign kindness to his colleague. “Elizabeth, I really have come to respect all that you have done for the Project, despite my earlier disagreements with you.”

“But, I cannot let you leave this facility with the Project’s first breakthrough. SK-591 will not survive unless she remains under SDI care.”

“Come on, Gerald, do you really think I’m falling for your attempts at trying to extend an olive branch?” Dr. Emery wasn’t buying Selfridge’s claims. “There is absolutely no way I am leaving this baby with someone deeply involved with this country’s military-industrial complex like you.”

Selfridge was seething with anger as he pulled the gun from the holster, firmly aiming it at Dr. Emery’s head.

Dr. Emery gasped in horror at just how far Selfridge was willing to go to keep his damned Project afloat.

“Even if I have to kill you to keep SK-591 in Base Alpha, I will not hesitate.” Selfridge talked in a condescending baritone.

“I’m sorry it had to end like this, Elizabeth. But you and I know that there is no room for kindnes–”

“Yes, I know. ‘There’s no room for kindness in progress’.” Emery’s voice was filled with sarcasm and quiet anger. “But you’re not going to stop me, Gerald. So you’d best stay out of my way.”

“You’ve left me no choice.” Selfridge was ready to fire his handgun and end this. He was now at that point where he was willing to kill Dr. Emery for her betrayal.

“Farewell.”

With her free arm, Emery slapped away Selfridge’s gun-wielding hand before punching him in the face to render the SDI CEO unconscious.

Three SDI guards came across the elevator area and saw Selfridge’s beaten body, as well as Dr. Emery standing over him.

“Dr. Emery, what brings you to the Engineering Facility?” The lead guard asked.

“And why is Mr. Selfridge lying at your feet?” Another guard questioned.

“Gentlemen, please.” Emery raised a hand up to stop the guards. “The intruder has attacked Mr. Selfridge, and has infiltrated Base Alpha. You need to stop them before they destroy the Project.”

The guards immediately ran past Dr. Emery without question, making sure to pull up Selfridge’s body with them into the elevator leading to Base Alpha. The doctor took the hint and ran off towards the exit of the Engineering Facility and into the cold, rainy, mountain-filled landscape of Killarney Provincial Park.

With the alarms blaring loudly as they had ever blared, Emery removed her labcoat and took a discarded grey hoodie to cover herself from the rain before running off into the distance. This was the last time she’d ever set foot on an SDI-owned facility.

—

**_Hours Later…_ **

The rain finally died down, the clouds clearing up to reveal the evening sky lined with stars. Dr. Emery and baby SK-591 were sheltered in a small cave on one of the mountaintops that lined Killarney.

Emery had no idea what would come next after liberating SK-591 from SDI Base Alpha, but she was relieved that a fate of being transformed into a weapon bereft of her own free will would not befall the baby.

SK-591 was fast asleep — as she had been for the entirety of Dr. Emery’s daring escape from SDI — but she soon woke up crying on the makeshift bed made out of Emery’s labcoat.

Sensing that the baby was in discomfort, Emery moved quickly to take care of SK-591 by holding the baby in her arms once more. She gently rocked back and forth in an attempt to lull her back to sleep. With SK-591 firmly being held around her arms, Dr. Emery walked outside the cave, so that she could peer at the night sky.

The 38-year-old geneticist didn’t know why she found such tranquility in looking at the stars at night so often, but Emery always found herself in awe marvelling at the majesty of the sky.

On this cold December evening, a realization dawned upon Emery as she lost herself in the wonders of both the night sky above her and the infant she rescued from Base Alpha. She looked at the tag that the infant was wearing… “SK-591”.

Dr. Emery was disgusted that the beautiful miracle of life she had in her arms was to be forever known by a mere serial number. That’s when she realized that the infant needed a name — an actual name that would help give her an identity and hopefully one day be a defining trait for her to embrace.

“I think I know what to call you…” Emery removed the tag from the infant’s onesie, getting a piece of paper from her paper and writing something on it.

“Skye.” The doctor spoke warmly as she wrote that exact same name on the small piece of paper. She had no idea why that particular name came to her — perhaps she had the sky itself fresh on her mind as she named the baby — but Emery thought it was perfectly fitting for her.

“That’ll be your name. Like the sky, I see unlimited potential in you. Potential that SDI’s damned Project won’t ever corrupt. Not as long as I’m watching over you.”

Emery looked into the green eyes of the newly-named Skye with a motherly smile. She saw a lot a promise in the baby’s innocent eyes.

She saw a certain amount of pure light and optimism in the baby’s eyes… something Emery believed could never be artificially fabricated, no matter how hard Selfridge or anyone at SDI could try.

She saw the hopes and dreams that one day would be Skye’s to claim for herself.

Little baby Skye’s cries filled the quaint mountaintop area Emery had taken her to for sanctuary. Those loud wails soon stopped once she found peace by peering towards the night sky that had inspired her very name, just like her “mother” did.

—

“Over those years since she freed you from this place… Dr. Emery raised you right. With a sense of familial love.” Ilsa finished her story. “She’s the reason why you grew into the compassionate person that you are today, and not whatever that Selfridge and Project Singularity were trying to mold you into.”

“And whatever did happen to her?” Skye had more questions about this woman who apparently was her “mother”.

“I never did get a chance to contact Elizabeth several years after her abrupt exit from SDI in 1995,” Dr. Antrovich lamented. “It was as if she completely disappeared off the face of this Earth.”

As a result of her faulty memories due to incomplete Singularity conditioning at birth, Skye never really knew how she came to be or who her parents were — that is if she even had any. Now, thanks to Dr. Antrovich (and even Mr. Selfridge’s earlier ranting), she had some idea about who she really was.

“Even if Dr. Emery did mysteriously vanish like she did,” Dr. Antrovich put a hand on Skye’s shoulder, “She really did believe that nurture would win out over your true ‘nature’ as some sort of super-soldier. And with the way you’ve lived your life beyond the confines of this facility, I can definitely believe that too.”

It was beginning to become clear for Skye that Dr. Emery was indeed the mystery hooded woman she had been seeing in her visions. The same woman who was running in a vast, empty wasteland from an unknown force. It was just as clear as the fact that Selfridge and the man in the shadows from her visions were one and the same.

She felt like that she had solved at least one part of the puzzle that was her fractured life. For most of said life, she had no idea who she really was and what her deal seemed to be, aside from her superpowers and being the target of a sinister conspiracy.

Overcome with emotion, Skye tearfully gave Dr. Antrovich a hug, thankful to finally hear the truth she had sought for so long. The head of Genetics & Advanced Research Projects wasn’t expecting such a display of affection like this at all, but she freely accepted it.

“I don’t know why you’re doing all this…” Skye looked at Dr. Antrovich with a small smile on her face. “But I just want to thank you. I mean… I’m still powerless and about to be turned into a guinea pig for your boss’s super-soldier army, but I kinda needed some good news today.”

“You are going to have more to thank me for, Skye…” Ilsa took her laptop from the desk and opened it up. “…because I believe I might have a solution to your superpower situation.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Act IV – Let There Be Light**

**_Toronto Police Headquarters – Early Evening_ **

By the time Ava and SSgt. Eddison (as well as the now-apprehended Brandt) arrived at Toronto Police Headquarters, Chief MacDonald was already halfway through briefing the media about Finn’s arrest, as well as providing an update on the whole Skye investigation situation. The relative importance of that briefing meant that almost everybody on the force was in the Briefing Room, which allowed for Eddison and Ava to easily go to the lower-level holding area for people in custody.

While SSgt. Eddison placed Brandt into a vacant jail cell, Ava noticed the sight of Finn currently sitting in one of the jail cells, immediately running to where he was just sitting in contemplation.

“Oh my god! I’m so happy to see you!” Ava ran in front of Finn’s cell, a huge smile of relief on her face.

“Ava?” Finn looked a bit surprised to see his young friend making a sudden arrival at Police Headquarters, but he was glad to see her. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“Me an’ Officer Eddison are here to get you out of here…” Ava rushed through her words while her hands were holding the bars of Finn’s jail cell.

“Wait… can you do that? Isn’t it against the law to aid and abet an escaping criminal?” Finn asked.

“Not to worry, Mr. Finwick,” SSgt. Eddison interjected as he turned away from Brandt’s cell, “I’ll see to it that you are cleared of your charges, because we have the real culprit behind Isaac Ellerton’s murder in custody.”

Finn hurriedly walked out of the cell as soon as Eddison opened it up with his key, then giving Ava a hug. To say he was happy to see Ava would be an understatement.

“You guys caught Brandt?” Finn questioned, noticing the head of SDI’s Repossession Task Force sitting in a cell.

“We certainly did, Mr. Finwick,” SSgt. Eddison remarked. “Now, if you could just make your way upstairs, we can get thi–”

Finn walked past Eddison angrily, clearly wanting to give Brandt a piece of his mind for all that he had done to him and Skye as part of SDI’s conspiracy.

“Where the hell is Skye?!” Finn grabbed the handcuffed Brandt by his shirt collar. “You tell me where you and your stupid thugs took her right now or I will fucking end you.”

Brandt chuckled arrogantly at Finn’s question/threat. “Don’t bother asking. I know where she is, but I’ll never tell you where my bosses took your friend. She will soon join the Project.”

“Mr. Finwick, please stand down!” Eddison tried to hold Finn back to prevent him from coming after Brandt to no avail.

“This son of a bitch framed me for murder!” Finn was fuming with rage. “The people he works for have Skye locked up somewhere for their experiments and you’re just going to let him sit there to mock us about it?”

“Mr. Finwick, I know you feel strongly about this Skye person and what Mr. Brandt over there has to do with where she’s being held,” Eddison spoke in a firm, yet calm voice. “But you really need to calm yourself and let me handle the interrogating here.”

Finn paced himself for a bit before letting himself cool down, despite the urge to make Brandt pay for his crimes being stronger than it ever was. Ava simply just observed what was going on. She already had her fill of a physical confrontation with Brandt earlier on, though she also really wanted to get even with him further.

“As I said, we’ll handle Brandt and see if we can have him charged for Mr. Ellerton’s murder.” Eddison talked once more while directing Finn and Ava out of the jail area. “In the meantime, however, there’s something in our evidence locker that might be of interest to you both.”

The three walked over to a fairly large room that had shelves of weapons, bikes, and other items of interest that Toronto Police confiscated as potential evidence for a multitude of crimes spanning weeks, months, and even years.

Eddison went over to one of the metal shelves and picked up a light green backpack that was very familiar-looking to both Ava and Finn. It was Skye’s own backpack, and it somehow ended up in this evidence locker.

—

**_Dr. Antrovich’s Office – 1630 hours_ **

Thanks to Dr. Antrovich’s status within SDI, getting Skye out of the Detention Cell temporarily was really not a problem. The reason that Antrovich used to justify letting Skye out of her cell involved a story of “further studying Skye’s bloodstream to benefit the reinstatement of the Project”. It wasn’t the most complex of alibis, but it held up when Antrovich told a cadre of scientists who noticed her walking with Skye on the way to her office.

Dr. Antrovich’s office was on the third floor of the Base Alpha complex and was relatively more conservative compared to the various advanced facilities that comprised SDI’s secret island facility. Upon entering, Antrovich sat in front of her desk and set up her laptop, while Skye took a seat on a second chair that was in the room.

“How do you know whatever you’ve got planned is gonna work in restoring my powers?” Skye asked, a hint of impatience in her tone.

“Your ‘mother’ trusted in my work, Skye,” Dr. Antrovich replied while logging on to her laptop. “Please trust in what I’m doing for you here.”

While Skye waited for Dr. Antrovich to work her magic in doing whatever was needed to restore her powers, she looked over some of the folders that were on the desk the doctor was working on. One particular folder seemed to have all her attention, however.

The green folder Skye was holding contained a partially incomplete file on Dr. Emery, that seemed more focused on her contributions to Project Singularity. Specifically, the folder was Emery’s own notes on the baby otherwise known as Subject SK-591 — in other words, the infant that Skye started out as.

Dr. Emery’s notes largely centered on how SDI scientists were able to craft “perfect” DNA in order to create a true superhuman. As it turned out, Dr. Antrovich was right in claiming that Emery “trusted in her work”, as the doctor’s note made mention of Antrovich’s contributions in helping stabilize SK-591’s DNA to align with her future superhuman powers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Antrovich grabbed a small, grey briefcase with “EXPERIMENT – CLASSIFIED” written in red stencil font from underneath her desk. Upon retrieving it, she opened the briefcase to reveal a vial with a green liquid within it.

“This is an experimental serum the A.R.P. Department was developing in the years after Project Singularity was shut down,” Dr. Antrovich held the green vial for Skye to see. “Even after the Project ended, our obsession with creating superpowered beings never stopped, as you probably already know by now.”

“This original version was never mass-produced due to the adverse side-effects that befell our trial subjects.”

“What… kind of effects are we talking here?” Skye asked inquisitively.

“A wide variety. Some suffered from severe allergic reactions despite having no such history of having an allergy. Others began seeing hallucinations and started hearing voices in their head. An unfortunate few died within hours of being exposed to this serum.” Dr. Antrovich listed off one side effect after another of the serum.

“Well, that’s encouraging…” Skye responded with her usual amount of dry wit. “I can easily see why this never left your labs.”

“In actuality, Skye… it kind of did.” Dr. Antrovich corrected. “Do you recall your encounter with Professor Roland Keisler and his Unity project? He had taken a modified variation of this serum to fuel that little experiment.”

Skye didn’t have to stretch her imagination too far in connecting Dr. Antrovich’s serum to what gave the recently-deceased Isaac Ellerton his enhancements, as well as what gave Professor Keisler’s experimented-upon homeless people and Patient A-001 their own powers.

“It — both this serum and Professor Keisler’s variation — was referred to by the name ‘Metrivex I’.” Dr. Antrovich remarked on the origins of the serum she was holding in her hands.

“Its legacy has been largely tainted due to our willingness to utilize non-superpowered volunteers for the formula. We have never attempted to try it on someone with powers.”

“And this is all supposed to convince me to take the serum?” Skye had some concerns about Metrivex I’s possible effects on her. She had seen the toll the modified variation of the serum had taken on Isaac’s psyche, so there was no telling what the raw version would do to a powered individual like her.

“Skye, it’s either taking this serum or remaining as powerless as ever while Selfridge takes your blood to fuel his new army and does god-knows-what to you and your friends.” Dr. Antrovich remarked rather coldly.

“When you put it that way, your idea sounds a lot more appealing, as dangerous as it might be for me.” Skye wryly replied.

“In that case, I’ll prepare the injection.” Dr. Antrovich looked into her desk drawer for a syringe to administer Metrivex I into.

Skye really wasn’t sure if taking this experimental serum was a good idea, but any solution that would lead to getting her powers back so that she could stop SDI’s schemes and save Finn was welcomed. She was just that desperate.

“Please roll up your sleeve so the serum can be introduced to your bloodstream,” Dr. Antrovich instructed Skye while typing up important relevant information to this mini-experiment on her laptop.

Skye rolled up the right sleeve of her SDI-issued white jumpsuit, so that Dr. Antrovich could make final preparations for injecting her with Metrivex I. Antrovich rubbed the area on Skye’s arm where she was going to be injected with rubbing alcohol, then finally inserting the needle onto the site of injection.

As Dr. Antrovich began to infuse the green-hued Metrivex I serum into Skye’s arm, the blue-haired superhuman felt a bit better than she did prior. Unfortunately, something started to feel off immediately.

Within minutes of being administered Metrivex I, Skye began to feel dizzy. Perhaps, her weakened state was exacerbating whatever she was feeling right now as a result of exposure to the serum. Her body temperature was also starting to decrease on top of the dizziness she was suffering from.

“Skye… are you okay?” Dr. Antrovich queried with a considerable amount of worry on her apparent “patient’s” rapidly deteriorating condition.

“Yeah, doc… I’ll… I’ll b….. unhhhhhhh.” Skye was unable to provide a response to Dr. Antrovich’s question before blacking out as a result of whatever side-effects came with exposure to Metrivex I. She collapsed right into the arms of Dr. Antrovich.

Dr. Antrovich had a great deal of concern on her face. She honestly didn’t know what effects Metrivex I would have on Skye, and she never expected the serum to react negatively with the young depowered superhuman’s body.

The Slovakian doctor held Skye in her arms and tried to leave her office. However, she didn’t expect Skye to be so heavy to lift, so she really couldn’t carry her body in full.

Antrovich’s plan was to bring Skye back to the Detention Cells and hope that Metrivex I would work as desired on her, as that would mean she would now be able to easily break out of her cell.

“I’m really sorry for this, Skye.” Dr. Antrovich’s voice was filled with quiet regret as she set the young woman’s limp body against the floor… right in the view of two SDI soldiers who just happened to be walking along the hallway outside her office.

“Gentlemen, thank goodness you two are here.”

“Dr. Antrovich, why is the Subject out of containment?” One of the soldiers questioned sternly, clearly unprepared for the situation that faced him right now.

“I was brutally attacked by Subject SK-591 in my office after she escaped the Detention Cells, so I had her heavily sedated with this injection to prevent her from doing much worse to me.” Dr. Antrovich attempted to create a fictitious story to explain why Skye was not in the Detention Cells. “Mr. Selfridge ordered me to bring her back to her cell, so if you could help with that…?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The other soldier nodded while he helped his partner lift Skye’s body onto his shoulder, soon exiting onto the elevator to bring the prisoner back to the Detention Cell.

Dr. Antrovich simply watched the still-unconscious Skye being taken away, hoping that her improvised plan would work out and Metrivex I would ultimately work in restoring that young woman’s superhuman abilities without any ill effects.


	5. Chapter 5

**Act V – Roaring Back**

_**Outside Toronto Police Headquarters – Late Evening** _

SSgt. Eddison stood at the entrance of Toronto Police Headquarters along with Ava and the recently-exonerated Finn, with Skye’s discarded backpack in his hands.

“Why would you even have her backpack, Officer?” Finn seemed confused about the bag in Eddison’s possession.

“Mr. Finwick, like you saw in our evidence storage room, we keep a lot of possible evidence in investigations both current and past,” SSgt. Eddison pointed out. “Toronto Police recovered your friend’s bag from where we last saw her near the Port Lands. She hasn’t been seen since.”

“Why do I have the feeling that your people and SDI have something to do with Skye’s disappearance?” Finn asked.

“I’m not too sure about what Toronto Police’s stance about working with SDI is right now,” Eddison tried his best to calm Finn’s fears. “But I can tell you that I’m not really too hot on anyone wearing an SDI badge right now, not especially after their guy Brandt almost tried to kill me a few days back.”

“Needless to say, I do kinda owe your pal a solid, so if there’s anything I can do to help, feel free to ask.”

Finn took Skye’s bag from SSgt. Eddison, soon unzipping the main portion to reveal the spy gear that was taken by Skye from the spy shop she paid a visit to yesterday. He also noticed an entire stack of classified SDI dossiers inside the bag as well.

“Wait a second, what are these folders in the bag?” SSgt. Eddison noticed the SDI files and was naturally piqued by why they were in Skye’s backpack.

“Looks like a bunch of files relating to whatever shady crap SDI has been doing in hunting you and Skye down, Finn.” Ava turned to her older friend and chimed in with her opinion about what those papers were.

“If these papers have that kind of information on it, it’s going to be considered important evidence.” Eddison observed. “Chief MacDonald is going to want to see this. It’s going to make this whole thing easier on us.”

As Finn looked over the SDI files, he quickly understood that perhaps Skye deliberately left her bag behind before disappearing, not only so that the truth about SDI and Project Singularity could be revealed, but also so that Finn could find where she ended up at. That was made all the more clear when a small digital tracker began to beep repeatedly.

The tracker’s screen flashed on, revealing a red dot blinking repeatedly over a body of water — specifically, it was blinking over Georgian Bay. Somewhere near Philip Edward Island.

“Finn… do you think this could be Skye telling us she’s in trouble?” Ava inquired worriedly.

“I dunno, but it’s worth checking out, knowing the type of crap that never seems to stop following Skye,” Finn insisted. “I also know that Skye herself would probably not want you to come, Ava, so before you think of asking me, I think y’need to stay behind.”

Ava frowned at again being told to just stay behind, even though she had just gone through a lot of trouble to clear Finn’s name. While she understood that Skye personally asked her to stay away from the Singularity conspiracy investigation for her safety, Ava just couldn’t shake the fear of her “irmã mais velha” (“big sister” in Portuguese) being in greater danger than she could handle.

For that reason, she wanted in.

“You’re gonna need all the help you can get, Finn, I can’t just leave you to find Skye alone…”  Ava interjected vociferously. She was not going to be denied this time. “I can help with my powers an’ junk…”

Finn sighed as he thought long and hard about what to do. He didn’t want to put Ava in harm’s way again, especially after Skye was adamant about keeping the teenager safe. At the same time, he just couldn’t deny the fact that taking on SDI alone with no combat training or superpowers on his side like both Skye or even Ava was a suicide mission waiting to happen.

“Okay… okay, you can come along.” Finn finally relented on his initial stance regarding Ava. “Skye is gonna kill me for this…”

“Thank you, Finn. Thank you. I won’t let you down.” Ava was ecstatic with joy at the idea of helping her friends even further. “One thing though… how do we plan on getting to wherever Skye is?”

“I’ll… think of something?” Finn hadn’t planned that far ahead in terms of actually reaching Skye’s destination. All he had to work with was

“I think I might be able to help on that regard,” SSgt. Eddison spoke up yet again. “Toronto Police have had access to a Cessna 206-H for many years. We’ve mainly used it for surveillance operations, but I think it’s got enough gas for a long flight to wherever it is your friend is at.”

“And where might this plane be?” Finn asked.

“For security purposes, the CF-ZRR plane is kept at Buttonville Airport, which is about 45 minutes north of this city,” Eddison answered right back.

“Just how do we get to fly this plane?” Ava had a question of her own for SSgt. Eddison.

“You don’t.” Eddison quickly responded. “As a unit commander, I have special access to the plane, along with my fellow commanders on the force.”

Ava and Finn assumed that Eddison was breaking a hell of a lot of TPS protocols just to help them find a way to get to where Skye was, but they were most certainly grateful that he was going above and beyond for them.

“Thank you for this, Officer,” Finn shook Eddison’s hand in gratitude. “Both me and Ava appreciate your efforts to help us. We really do.”

“Like I said earlier, Mr. Finwick,” Eddison smiled at both Finn and Ava. “I owe your friend a big favor for saving me from SDI’s top goon back at Robarts.”

“Now that’s all out of the way, I think we have a plane to catch.”

—

**_Base Alpha Detention Cells – 2000 hours_ **

Skye woke up, once again finding herself confined to the high-tech Detention Cells of Base Alpha after fainting from being exposed to Dr. Antrovich’s Metrivex I serum. She still felt a bit groggy, but somehow a lot better than how she was a few hours earlier after she was injected with the serum.

Reaching under her bodysuit, Skye removed a small tracer she had placed on her body long before being captured by SDI, doing so in the hopes that she could be easily tracked down by Finn or whomever else in the event of being in danger. It was a miracle that nobody working with SDI caught wind of the tracer when they had her captive.

While Skye did leave Finn, Ava, and everyone else she cared for back in Toronto behind, she certainly was no idiot. She knew that facing SDI alone was not something she could do for a prolonged period of time, no matter how much she believed that she could.

That was the reason Skye went through all the trouble of raiding the spy store — as well as leaving her backpack behind in Toronto — so that she could almost use it as a way to get her friends’ help in the event that her plan to stop SDI didn’t go exactly as planned.

Now, it was simply a matter of hoping that Finn escaped his predicament so that he could come and assist her against Selfridge’s plans.

In the meantime, all there was for Skye to do was to simply hope Metrivex I would restore her powers back to normal. Soon enough, she got her answer to that particular concern as there seemed to be a newfound spring in her step. That feeling of not being able to stand upright was just a fleeting memory now. Her body temperature appeared to normalize to their regular levels.

Her arms, which were rendered numb from the torture she suffered earlier at the hands of Mr. Selfridge and his Genetic Extractors, began to regain their muscle mass. The bruises and scars inflicted upon her started to slowly disappear — likely due to her healing abilities returning to form.

For one reason or another, Skye felt some of her strength returning. She soon flipped back up to her feet, almost as if she was demonstrating her abilities. It appeared that Metrivex I was restoring Skye’s metabolism back to their usual state… and then some.

Realizing she still had Selfridge’s “compliance chip” attached on her neck, Skye put her hand behind her neck and pulled the chip forcefully, which also ended up removing a bit of the skin tissue that it was attached to. Despite losing a bit of her skin, Skye felt no pain as that part of her neck where the chip was lodged into began to heal itself.

 _“Okay… this is just peachy.”_ Skye thought to herself while she slammed her fist across the bed in a display of her reinvigorated strength. That bed literally bent into an unusual shape, while the mattress was ripped apart completely.

With the thoughts of the torture she had already endured at the hands of SDI’s conspiracy still fresh in her mind, Skye balled up her fist, concentrating all her pent-up rage into one powerful punch into the cell wall.

The strength of Skye’s punch caused a fist-shaped dent to be imprinted into the metal cell wall, something that definitely caught her eye amidst the fluff of the mattress she just destroyed fluttering all over the cell.

Skye glanced at the small amount of destruction she caused in her cell, realizing her powers were back. That obviously meant good news for her, and it most certainly meant bad news for Mr. Selfridge and all of SDI. They had made her suffer for quite some time as part of some sort of sociopathic experiment in the name of “progress” — also targeting the people she had started to care for in such a short time as retaliation for her defiance. Enough was enough. It was time to fight back.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun…” Skye smiled to herself while cracking her knuckles. She was back, and quite possibly stronger than ever.

**NEXT: Skye Strikes Back Against SDI in “Unbreakable”**

**(c)2016 M. Quill, WQW Productions**


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